Microsoft Surface Pro Battery Life Improvements Could Come Soon for Windows 8 Pro Tablet

The reviews of the Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro tablet is flowing in and two aspects have been the most common among critics.

A consistent critique about the Surface Pro tablet is price and the battery life, and it appears Microsoft is doing something for the latter.

Reviews have totaled that the new Surface tablet's battery life last about four hours after charging and to some, that's very short.

Microsoft's Panos Panay, head of the Surface tablet team, participated in Reddit's "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session with Reddit users and answered a question about the battery power.

"The product was designed to take full advantage of Windows 8 coupled with the Ivy Bridge core processor from Intel. We created a product that did not compromise speed, performance in any way," wrote Panay. "With that, we wanted to be the best notebook/laptop product in its class, but still deliver you the tablet form factor. This product is optimized in every way to take advantage of the full third generation core i5 it runs, yet give the best battery life."

"If you compare it to say a MacBook Air, you will quickly see that pound for pound in battery size vs battery life, you will find optimizations that puts Surface best in its class. That said we picked a smaller battery to be sure we were able to give you the same performance and to keep it thin. This kept the weight under 2lbs, and still kept it thin enough to take advantage of our great Windows work for inking and give you a great inking experience (like pressure sensitive inking, ability to do kanji, great sketching)."

Another question, via AllThingsD, noted if Microsoft plans on making an external battery.

Reddit Question: "Does Microsoft have any plans for an external battery or for a thicker keyboard cover that has an extra battery? Or, if I want an external battery brick, is there a third party one I can buy that can be used with the surface."

Panay's Response: "That would require extending the design of the accessory spine to include some way to transfer higher current between the peripheral and the main battery. Which we did..."

Time will tell if the external battery will come to fruition.

The Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro is set to be released with a starting price of $899 for the 64GB model and $999 for the 128GB model.

Related Articles:

For reviews on the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT, click here.

Microsoft Surface Pro Review Roundup: Battery Life, Price, Weight Among Issues with Windows 8 Pro Tablet Critics, click here.

For the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT specs and definitions, click here.

For the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT tablet drop test, click here.

For rumors on three upcoming Surface tablets in 2013, click here.

For the iPad 4 vs. Microsoft Surface with Windows RT, click here.

For the iPad Mini vs. Microsoft Surface with Windows RT specs, click here.

For the comparison of the Microsoft Surface vs. Kindle Fire HD 8.9, click here.